How many people live in South Korea right now?
Right now, according to UN estimates
51,574,553
| Today | In 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Births | · | · |
| Deaths | · | · |
| Net migration | · | · |
| Growth | · | · |
2026 figures
- Rank by population
- 31 of 237
- Share of world population
- 0.62%
- Median age
- 46.2 years
- Children per woman
- 0.76
- Life expectancy
- 84.6 years
- People per km²
- 522
According to UN estimates, about 51.6 million people live in South Korea right now. It ranks 31st out of 237 countries and territories by population, between Uganda and Algeria, and it is home to one in every 161 people on the planet.
Every day, about 680 people are born there and about 1,100 die. More people arrive than leave: net migration adds about 62,600 people a year. More people die than are born, and immigration is not enough to make up for it. Overall, the population shrinks by about 200 people a day (0.14% a year).
In 1950, about 19.8 million people lived there. Today there are 2.6 times as many. It peaked in 2020, at about 51.9 million, and has been falling since. By 2050 it is projected to have about 45.1 million people (12% fewer than today), and by 2100 about 21.8 million.
Half of its people are younger than 46 (worldwide, 31). Women have an average of 0.76 children each, below the 2.1 needed for each generation to replace the one before, and life expectancy at birth is 85 years (worldwide, 74). There are 522 people per square kilometer.
UN estimates up to today and projections (medium variant) from today onward.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the population of South Korea in 2026?
- South Korea has about 51.6 million people right now, according to the UN's World Population Prospects 2024. On July 1, 2026, there were 51,600,388.
- How many people are born each day in South Korea?
- About 680 a day (250,000 a year). About 1,100 people die each day (385,000 a year).
- Is the population of South Korea growing?
- No: it shrinks by 0.14% a year, or about 73,200 people.
- What will the population of South Korea be in 2050?
- According to the UN projection (medium variant), about 45.1 million.
- Why doesn't this figure match the country's official statistics?
- The UN estimates the population of every country with the same method, based on censuses, surveys and registers, and projects it year by year. Each national statistics office uses its own censuses and registers, which may be more up to date or count foreign residents differently. That is why the figures can differ slightly.
Countries with a similar population
- Colombia 54,089,665
- Sudan 53,735,029
- Uganda 53,195,485
- Algeria 48,206,556
- Iraq 48,315,621
- Spain 47,835,423
More countries in Asia
- India 1,480,584,756
- China 1,411,888,988
- Indonesia 288,550,038
- Pakistan 260,627,497
- Bangladesh 178,484,178
- Japan 122,207,099
- Philippines 118,018,787
- Vietnam 102,351,264
- Iran 93,380,188
- Turkey 88,012,239
- Thailand 71,536,978
- Myanmar 55,285,213
All countries and territories →
Where these figures come from
The figures are estimates from the United Nations Population Division, published in World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant): the reference used by international organizations and by most population counters. The UN estimates how many people there are on July 1 of each year and how many are born, die and migrate; between one date and the next, this counter spreads the change continuously, second by second.
It is not a real-time headcount: nobody can count every person in a country at once. It is the best available estimate, and it may differ slightly from the figures of each country's statistics office, which use their own censuses and population registers.